First of all this novel was hilarious. I can’t count the number of times the laughter even took me by surprise.
I only regret delaying picking up this novel. It was delightful. There was so much scheming, speaking with undertones and double meanings, my brain was really put to work... whew 😅

Props to the translating team for the wonderful translation, glossary and end of chapter comments. You made the reading experience much better.

This novel is really about the fight for the throne. It was hard to see how family will turn against each other for profits and self interest but that’s the imperial family’s dynamics.

The relationship between the main characters was refreshing to see and the development, open conversations, tacit understanding, lots of PDA 😩etc brought some sweetness to all the darkness taking place.

All in all this was 5/5 for me

This was also a good read. Pretty similar to TBVW although for me personally, I prefere how TBVW ended. I feell the ending of 8TT was a bit rushed or too short for my liking but anyways love them both. I also really love HXW and YJQ

Took me long enough to pick this novel up again and re-read it until finished. I was finishing Like Pearl and Jade (from the same author and the same translator) when I crave more stories alike. I remembered that I used to read this story up until 16th chapter then I drop it due to FL natures for being lazy the story on the first quarter, before it advances into more fun plot development. I would encourage everyone to keep reading as the face slapping would progress in great thrill... more>> and you will absolutely love the dog food that HXW and YQJ spread and force us to eat.

I also like the part where many of their conversations are in metaphors and symbolism which requires reader to decipher the true messages and make their own predictions on what to come. It adds more fun and interactive experience while reading this novel. <<less

The story has great pacing, foreshadowing and descriptive language. It is a nice read with plenty of palace drama and backstabbing plots and reading between the lines. Though I would say there is one thing that I wasn't satisfied with and also left me confusing is the romance department of this book... I am utterly confused when did the MC and the ML started to like each other, like maybe I am just dumb but the romance aspect between the two seemed very vague, like yes, these two were nice... more>> to each other and to some aspect understood each other, but how did that be described as love???

Another thing that left me just as confused was how the story's plot felt. It felt like a simple read but at the same time very complex and in-depth. There were parts where it kind of felt like a long summary and felt too boring to continue reading but overall the story had good glow and stability generally. Maybe I felt this because sometimes the author tried the "show and don't tell", method which worked in someplace with the subtle meanings but not in others.

DO NOT THINK I'M COMPLAINING!!! This is quite a good read as long as you are not too much of a critical reader, I would assume you would like this story.

ALSO, very heavy of the Chinese terms as many things were left as they are said in Chinese, could be a turnoff for some people as you have to invest time to really understand parts of the story. <<less

1. 1. The reviews for this one was too good and I was holding for when I want to read a good novel. But when I actually did read it was disappointing. It's an average plot. The male lead and female lead never gets into trouble like never face crises and every situation happening is always under ML's control. It's so unreal. I think the name of novel should be ' Death of imperial family' . Anyway I had much more expectations from this one. Also the emotional relationship between ML and FL is so obscure. Like first ML is pretending to be good to FL because she is pretty and his wife but we don't know when he starts to fall in love do deeply that their name goes into the world record
      . Same for FL she is very casual and lukewarm about ML (which I liked) but the overnight deep feelings one day is beyond me.
      If you're looking for a smooth sailing plain read, go for it. And wait a minute I wanted to give it 3 stars idk how but automatically it got 4. My opinion even went even
      I think novels like great planned marriage and I become the stepmother of male lead is much more my taste.

Summary: 4.5/5. Great novel! I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Plot: Everything is set at a steady understandable pace. The foreshadowing amongst a plethora of other things was what really made it for me. It follows along without ever explicitly stating anything. It’s a great show of the unreliability even in our cast of protagonists. Everything strings together in the end, and I was surprised to see the climax really reach to its peak until the last three chapters, I had thought it would be rushed and un-noteworthy but the author successfully pulled... more>> it off.

Pros: MC is a wonderful example of what a protagonist should be, and she never does things that seem extreme to the reader and those around her. ML is delightful and I enjoy the later interactions between him and the MC as they share great chemistry. The characters motives were not made clear through their words as with other novels, however the common phrase of ‘actions speak louder than words’ makes sense here. There was a strong feeling of camaraderie amongst the women in this novel, which I enjoyed as this type of genre usually degrades the women against the MC terribly. Although the relationship between the MC and her cousin was unclear towards the very end—I had never felt repulsed tbh the latters actions. They make sense, in a way.

Cons: There are a lot of things that were not explored, such as the ML’s cruelty in the beginning chapters, however, we glimpse through some of it with foreshadowing and subtle clues. Nothing is obvious but nothing is indisputably vague. <<less

Its good, I like the MC she never stray from her character settings, the ML is good too. This novel is a good read, nothing too dramatic is happening, something more on the slice of life vein. Though there's some palace/power struggles, it doesn't revolve around MC. She is just living her simple life.

This isn't a romance novel, there isn't even a slow burn here, just a slow understanding and respect between the MC and ML.

what a great novel!! I've read several works of this author and like her style but I think this one is so far her best work. The whole book is a great journey, though I admit that comparing to her other works this book took me more time to really engage me, I think this book develops characters much more and the plot flows much more nicely and well paced.

A bit of mystery and a slow paced and credible love story. There's no love at first sight, nor love that... more>> developed over night, but you can see how each of the lead's minds work and go from being doubtful to admire/respect and love each other.

I truly recommend this book. I think is the best one I've read so far. <<less

I'm not an english native speaker so I certainly had hard time trying to read between lines. Still it's a great novel, I've read other novels by the same author and this one didn't dissapointed me. At first, pinyin was really complicated, and I know that chinese family relationships are not like european's or american's, which is what I'm used to, but eventually I recalled almost every single one, which saves times from going to the glosary.

On a side note, having a glosary was very convenient.

About plot and characters, like... more>> many other novels of the genre, we have scheming characters, palace intrigue, a cold blooded wangye and a beautiful, smart wangfei.

What's novel is her indolent character, lazy to the core, but sincere and caring for those who cherish her. <<less

I have read this story multiple times and do not get tired of the story. The tone of the novel is really gentle and elegant. It’s almost like a slice of life type of writing. Despite quite intense moments in the novel, the way the author describes the events makes it so almost ban*l in a way, it’s hard to describe. But I so like that writing style. Both leads are quite rational and cold but have this feeling of protectiveness towards their people. They are well matched. As with... more>> other books of the same author, villains again are not pure villains. Just people driven by conflicting interests with a lower sense of integrity, contrarily to a lot of novel where the villains are that 1D dumb and/or lunatic characters who keep pursuing despite common sense. The romance here is not cheesy. Because of how rational both leads are, it is more adult like and I guess less dreamy. So it feels there isn’t much romance when in fact there is. <<less

This is one of my favorite couples. However, if you have a choice between reading this and TBAVW, read the latter. The second one is more romantic. Nevertheless, this one still has its charms and I enjoyed the political intrigue immensely.

This is good but I read first the TBAVW so I am bias. I just felt that the ending is a bit rush?? But I like the MC, lazy but OP

The first novel I read of almost all the novels written by Butterflys Shadow Beneath the Moon.

My favorite novel that I always reread when the mood is in need of entertainment in the most comfortable place.

This started out slow and kind of dull but by chapter 40 or so I was finally invested. The couple is very interesting in how low-key they are, but I really appreciated the little things. I think by the end the female lead realized that her husband was gonna be true to her forever. How could he not? She didn't care about his secret mu*der dungeon! Lol.

"In the midst of all chaos, one lived in leisure and idleness."

Translator is right, compared with TBVW, this novel is full of killing and scheming and acting. So cold-blooded and ruthless the characters in here, of course except for the FL. FL is like a strong FL. There fluffy moments but there is so much angst and scheming. Since I'm the type who doesn't like dog-blood kind of novel, can't help but say I like this one.

#1 There are no concubines.

Even thou for ancient settings they make sense, still prefer the ML to be faithful if he claims to love the FL.

#2 No s*upidly evil plans that are in fact laughable by the bad guys. Always a +

... more>> #3 Our leads aren't annoyingly OP to the point it would make no sense.

#4 It had the ease and peace of a sort of slice of life story. Reminds me of Minglan and thus I love it.

Action is good and all, but now and then this simple peace is also needed and Eight Treasures Trousseau has it. So glad I found this novel.

And not like it was all peace and laziness (from the FL XD), it had action as well so won't find it boring in the least.

#5 The writing was excellent.

Some found the subtexts confusing, but I loved it. In fact, I hate it when everything is said plain & clear in black & white making it so boring and as if the audience are idiots and couldn't understand between the lines.

Thus ETT had some intrigue and was more interesting to read since you could anticipate what is to be from what the characters implied.

#6 Some also complained there were too many terms left in pinyin and sure, for beginners it might be confusing, but since I've read some novels and seen plenty of c-dramas I was already familiar with most of them.

There were some I had no knowledge of ad thus learned smt new, but I actually preferred that the translators leave the many varied terms of address in pinyin with a glossary for explanation because in English it would all just turn into Jin Ling's Uncle's (lol) otherwise and lose the texture of just how important all the relationships are.

So yeah, at least for me, I preferred that and liked that the translators made a glossary with some reminders and left most of the terms in pinyin instead of translating to simple cousin/aunt/in-law etc. It just loses so much of cultural and society's meaning. Well, or smt like that XD

#7 All in all, this novel is now among my favourites because I thoroughly enjoyed the characters & the story. Especially the interactions between the FL & ML. It was joy to read.

And the novel was short as well, just 108 chapters, but that was enough. Am glad it wasn't uselessly dragged out. <<less

there's a lot of hidden subtext in this story and I love how the author ties it all together. The politics is nice too and this is a more dark toned story and is not as soft as to be a virtuous wife. But that's what's more interesting about this novel. The romance is a slow burn and not a focus of the leads as they first deal with their opponents. Yet slowly but surely they come to like each other and grow in love and it's so delightful.

totally a... more>> good read and I highly recommend it. <<less

The premise and setting, even though it was generic, it still had freshness in it. The FL's personality was refreshing. I enjoyed the fact that she was lazy, which I found new for females.

The ML was respectful and sweet, but I couldn't get attached to him. There seemed to be a thin layer separating us from full union as I take it upon myself to fall in love with MLs.

The romance was great, no misunderstandings, vicious women, disgusting harem. The ML was too intelligible for his era, as the author... more>> questions, maybe he was a reincarnation? Lol.

I guess I was kinda expecting more internal politics, there wasn't much of that. All in all, it was a fun read. <<less

highly recommended novel, definitely a must read! With a smart but lazy MC and a good ml, both are really smart and I love how the story flows, love all the characters. All I can say is this is a very good novel! :))

I always see this being recommended and I finally tried to read this. Now I wonder why the ratings is high. The translation and writing is good but this is just dull. The story, the character, the lack of interaction. I have high hopes but well, I never finished TBVW and I think ill never finish this too.

I read alot of books. Hard copy, ebooks, anything even school books and encyclopedia but I cant stand this book. Maybe I over expect thats why the disappointment will never let me finish... more>> this one or any of the authors books.

There are calm stories and there is just plain and dull. <<less